How to Find Your “Zone”
“Just focus!”
“Be confident!”
Although these phrases have good intentions (and I’m guilty of using them in the past as well) they might not be as helpful as we think when we shout them from the crowd during competition.
How we show up as coaches and parents matters. We have influence and power to help or hinder how our athletes prepare to perform.
When it’s time to play, athletes spend time to physically warm up their body with stretches and warm-up drills.
But how are we equipping our athletes to warm up their mindset, thought patterns, and perspective before games?
Some would argue that the mental component of competition outweighs the physical. If you were to put a percentage of what part of competition is mental, what value would you put on it?
50% mental?
80% mental?
95% mental?
Regardless of where you fall, we can all agree the mental component of any competition is significant, to which I ask - Are you training your mental skills in proportion to their importance?
If you really believe that our mental fortitude accounts for 50% of our performance, then ideally 50% of our training should be dedicated to our mental game.
Maybe you have or you are an athlete that has performance anxiety and struggles to be calm before competition. Maybe you are just struggling to perform on a consistent basis and have a hard time finding the “flow”.
Competitive greatness starts with the way you think. Getting into the zone can start with a consistent mental warm up before every practice and game.
The way we approach competition matters. As parents and coaches, we can help our athletes by showing up and being aware of our influence.
As a parent or coach, being aware that your nervous system can help your athlete’s nervous system is HUGE.
Knowing we have this responsibility can bring awareness to how we coregulate with our athletes.
How can you show up and be a grounding, compassionate, and validating support system for your athlete?
We have to also recognize as coaches and parents, it is not our job to “solve” athlete’s performance anxiety, but we can help provide tools to help them better manage it.
We can encourage our athletes to partake in a simple mindset warm-up to regulate their nervous system and get into their “zone”.
1. Breathe - as simple as it sounds, you have the power to settle and calm your nervous system with your breath. A potent breathing technique is the 4-7-8 breath. Strong inhale for 4 seconds, relax into a 7 second hold, then exhale and release for 8 seconds. Go through this breathing cycle 3-5 times.
2. Visualize - imagine your performance as if everything goes RIGHT. Down to the details, rehearsing and getting mental reps can help prepare for when the moment comes. Reversely, you can also imagine when things go WRONG, and then visualize how to overcome the mistakes and still perform well.
3. Journal - use this approach hours before performance, not minutes before you take the field/court/stage. Grab a sheet of paper and write down your anxieties about performing. Then, battle those limiting thoughts by writing what it looks like and feels like to perform your best.
4. Stimulate your vagus nerve - this is the longest nerve in your body, and is a key part of your parasympathetic "rest and digest" system. Practices like cold exposure, humming, meditation, and deep, slow breathing can help stimulate your vagus nerve. This step should be done days and weeks before performance, but can help regulate your nervous system for when it comes time to perform!
It doesn't have to be complicated - find something that works to lower your heart rate and best prepare your mind to work WITH you during competition.
It is a SKILL to intentionally get yourself into a relaxed state to perform your best.
Back to those phrases:
“Just focus!”
“Be confident!”
To help our athletes prepare and play their best, we have options. Try to reframe the phrases to:
“Take a breath. One play at a time!”
“I believe in you!”
Consider reframing these statements, or honestly maybe not saying anything at all.
Instead, think about ways you can help your athletes prepare before it’s time to execute.
Adopting and encouraging a mindset warm up can make a big difference!
